MATTHEWS, N.C. There was an overflow crowd of well-wishers at the Matthews monthly commissioners meeting on Jan. 23 as the Matthews Veteran of the Year Award was presented to Greg Smith, assistant manager of the Hooks-Orr American Legion Post 235 Baseball teams. Smith is a member of Post 235 and a retired veteran with 20 years of service in the U.S. Coast Guard. Post 235 fields both a junior-age and a senior-age baseball team with students 13-19. The 2021 junior team placed second in the state among all Legion Teams. More than 3,500 teams in all 50 states and Canada participate annually in American Legion Baseball.

A little-known fact about American Legion Baseball is that since 1926 some 85 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., played Legion Baseball in their youth. The first two Hall of Famers were Bob Feller (HOF 1962) and Ted Williams (HOF 1966). The most recent inductee was Gil Hodges in 2022.